The Irish government is to prioritise a retail code of practice to suppress unfair demands on suppliers by supermarkets.
A better deal is on the way for Irish growers, according to the republic’s newly appointed horticulture minister, Shane McEntee.
He claims the establishment of the long-promised retail code of practice, intended to protect suppliers from the collective muscle of the multiples and ensure fair play and fair returns, is a priority.
“We are planning a fair trade act that will outlaw practices such as hello-money and the promotion payments that some major retailers currently demand from suppliers to get their produce on to supermarket shelves,” McEntee said.
The new legislation forms a central plank of the programme for government agreed between the two parties, Fine Gael and Labour, making up the new coalition administration, and which has a combined majority of around 60 seats.
While some preliminary work on a proposed retail code was done by the last government, the new minister plans his own round of talks with representatives of both growers and multiples before the legislation is introduced.
McEntee, a long-time member of Fine Gael, the leading party in the coalition, reckons he is ideally suited to the portfolio he has been given.
He said: “I’m well aware of the challenges facing Irish horticulture, most particularly growers’ concerns about overall production costs and the fact that they have to compete with cheaper imports while also facing price pressures from a very concentrated retail sector.”
